Joy and Sadness

Today is Wednesday, May 6th, and it was our first day back at work after the second major Japanese holiday we've had since we moved here.  We decided to go northward to the island of Hokkaido (which the guidebooks say that many Japanese people regard as the best destination, and the best bit of nature in the country).  It's 1/5th the size of Japan, but only 5% of the Japanese population lives there.  The areas we visited involved ocean views, seagulls, steam-venting, snow-covered mountains, sun-baked forest roads, and broad, rolling fields.  The first photo here was taken at the end of Tenninkyo gorge, which took us about 20 minutes to hike through along a rushing river from the small cluster of hotels.  There's a beautiful set of waterfalls at the end.  We saw a few people, but not many.  It's still early in the season for crowd problems, and we were very thankful for our timing on this trip.  We never waited in line for anything!
One of the great joys of traveling is, once in a while, to risk putting yourself into the hands of chance and opportunity.  We got a bus ride to Tenninkyo Onsen, where the waterfall was, and i had planned a forest walk up about 4 miles to the next town.  The guidebook said it's a nice walk.  

Well, it turned out that the trail was still under many feet of snow, and would be impossible to hike it at this time of year.  So what could we do but walk on the highway to the next town?  If Mandy's shoes were in a lineup of random shoes, and we asked anyone to pick out the least likely to be used on an extensive walk in the mountains, anyone would have picked the queen's lace slippers first, but next, they would have picked Mandy's tiny shoes.  But she was up for the walk, and we felt good.  It was a beautiful day, and we set out, thinking it would be one or two hours.  See, we HAD to get to that next town by a certain time to catch the bus back to the town where our hotel was.  

Long story short, we walked 10 kilometres, and realizing that we wouldn't make it to the town in time if we walked all the way, we finally started to stick our thumbs out to the sparse passing cars, and within a few minutes, we had a ride with a nice Japanese couple in a Land Cruiser.  
The successful hitch allowed us time for a cable car ride up the volcano to the snowy regions, where there were steam vents coming out of the rock.  Again, Mandy's hiking shoes came through for her in style.
Hokkaido has varied terrain, like Canada.  We explored an agricultural region by mountain bike.  The fields here reminded me of Italy, rolling over hills topped with big farm houses... it was beautiful.  
On the morning of our last day in Hokkaido, we received news that my dear Uncle Mel had suddenly died.  It created a whirlwind of happiness and sadness for me, and i still feel that mixture, unable to fully let the reality sink in.  I have been thinking a lot about him with sadness and joy since i heard.  I really liked him a lot.  Still do, actually.  It's been good to reflect on my memories of him, and it makes me happy to see him laughing in almost every one.  He is a joyful, permanent fixture in my memories since i was old enough to have memories.  Despite our infrequent visits, i will miss him a lot.  My thoughts and prayers are with my Dad and all the Peters family.  

This giant poplar is one of the 'famous' trees of the Biei region in Hokkaido.  It has grown at an angle, evoking the image of someone deep in thought, and so they call it the "philosopher's tree".  It is beautiful, even without its leaves.